I am chuckling heartily, Diane! 🙂 I was prepared for you to say my eyes’ ability is going downhill to discern typos. Aging is a pain since on my phone I type “s” which is next to “a” many times on comments. This is not so bad as when my cell phone thinks it knows what I am typing. I should proofread all the time but sometimes life or a phone call comes in and I just push the post comment button.
You are so right about your title, probably wouldn’t have given it a second thought. 🙂

Phones are a whole other problem. Who has fingers that small? I can’t type worth beans on those and the “guess” feature comes up with some crazy suggestions. I gave up trying to edit those and just let them fly. My daughter has to call me back to see what I want. Ha ha.

Reblogged this on Smorgasbord – Variety is the spice of life and commented:
Diana Wallace Peach of Myths of the Mirror and a post about not stressing about tupos – sometimes our fungers work fister than our brains which aslo have predictive toxt.

Most of us were able to read it without a problem. 🙂 It’s so interesting to me how our brains work and how much we have yet to learn about the amazing things in our heads! I think we are more than we know.

If you’re dyslexic it’s even more of a struggle as your brain grabs information and concepts rather than individual letters as those jump around and exchange locations within words frequently. (Depending on unreliable spell check isn’t that much of a help either as it sees what it wants to see not what writer is trying to say.)

[…] vocation pops up in my opinions and commentary. Since my previous post broached the topic of brains, I thought it might be easy fun to share something from my previous life – an article I wrote on […]

This post really illustrates the need for proofreading using every trick we can come up with to make the errors pop out and then getting 2nd and maybe even 3rd opinions. True – most people will skim right over and never even notice but we need to produce clean copy for those readers who will take note and be knocked out of our story by the error. At the end of the day, we don’t want anything to detract readers from the story. Great post.

You are so right. The post is funny and interesting, but it points clearly to why proofreading support is so vital. I have no less than 6 proofreaders (sometimes more) and errors still get through. I’ve added reading my work backwards – the only part of writing that I utterly loathe, but it’s worth the effort.

Spelling has never been my strong suite. I’m a writer who is very thankful for spellcheck, and for some good friends who point out my most egregious writing errors, so that I can fix then quickly. It’s nice to know that not being able to see one’s own mistakes is normal, and these challenges are by no means unique to me.

I agree, Raj. Incorrect spelling pops me out of whatever it is I’m reading, and with fiction in particular, it affects my enjoyment of the story. Thus, we slog forward, seeking out and correcting those darn typos. 🙂

I spotted all ten typos, took me a few seconds, but I did.
I was able to read everything in the image too without much difficulty. It was easier when I simply glanced over it than studying each word, interesting.
Great post with humor to end the week.

Well… it depends. Did you include the one in the title in your count? If yes, then I did. If not… I’m at a loss!
And yes, typos are awful! That’s why we always need someone to look over any text before we can be sure we didn’t miss any. Our brain knows what we wanted to write and instantly reads it the way we want it to be instead of the way it actually is.

Yes, I included the one in the title. I completely agree that it’s harder for the author to correct his/her own work. Yet, even editors will miss spelling mistakes on a first read. The brain is amazing. A mind of it’s own. Thanks for the comment. 😀

No, I actually meant the ‘it’s’ 😉
But yes, the tpyo!
I have a friend with whom I chat often (when she isn’t busy proof reading her latest book). I joke that I’ve become fluent in her typo language. With instant messaging, the problem is our brains going faster than our fingers. With books… it’s our brains seeing what it wants to see 🙂

I’ve been contemplating, Kev, whether dyslexia might really be a sign of a faster, more efficient brain – a brain that is much better at decoding than the ordinary human and no longer needs correct spelling to communicate. What if teachers told dyslexic students that they actually had higher functioning brains and that the reason they needed to learn proper spelling was for all of us “primitive” brains. That would be pretty cool, huh?
Sorry about the tangent. Ha ha. 😀 Thanks for reading and the comment!

Oh, goodness, I don’t know. I like to look at strengths whenever I can, and at the very least, erase feelings of being different, especially for kids. People are all different and have many ways to be wonderful. 🙂

Yes focusing on strengths is helpful. After all, a person would excel in their field if what they do for a job/career is something that comes naturally. I was lucky that my my OCD allowed be to have a career that focused on the OCD itself so instead of feeling odd because my brain works differently, I can now earn an income and make people happy and feel a great sense of accomplishment too. Win-win !

I agree wholeheartedly, Connie. One paragraph as a brain exercise is fun, but a novel? No way. Our brains can do it, certainly, but for me, it would be impossible to stay immersed in a story when constantly popped out by spelling errors. We have a responsibility as authors to provide the cleanest text we can. 😀

I have typos all the time and my letter writing skills aren’t the best any more. Heath reasons there.
It’s hard for me because I remember how good I once was. I wrote for newspapers/ Small town ones.
I have a Master’s Degree. I studied English Lit. I was an English major all thru high school and college.
I taught school for 17 years and then taught preschool in my home.
Now I struggle.

I’m so sorry about your health challenges, Sarah. I can’t imagine how hard you’re struggling. If it’s any help, your writing is still beautiful and clear and heartfelt, and I would never describe it as lacking in any way. I’m going to head over and read. I know I’m right. ❤

That means a lot to me. It really does.
I notice things I do or say wrong but for the life of me, I can’t remember what I need to say/write.
I use I all the time. I this. I that.
The more I am writing and sharing here, the more unafraid I am.
Unafraid is not the right word but I can’t think of the correct one.
I just write what I want to write now.
Before, when I first started here, I wasn’t writing much..Certainly not as open as I do now. I share more from other blogs.
🙂

Often we are hardest on ourselves, aren’t we? I truly believe that what most people value is authenticity and heart, because in so many ways, despite our differences, we are alike and can relate to the human experience. If you are writing from your heart – whatever that looks like – it will be valued and appreciated by your readers. With everything else going on in your life, relax and allow your writing to be worry free. ❤

That was fun. I (eventually) caught your typos, too. So the question is… why can’t I find my own typos when I proofread my own copy? Most of them, yes, but some are eulusive no matter how many times I read over them. I think they’re like houseflies. You know they’re there, but when you start chasing them….

I can imagine how frustrating it must be, as I get aggravated for every one that gets by me. At least, despite how annoying it must be, you’re able to see those moments of humor. 🙂 Thanks for the comment, Jay.

I used to do a lot of proof-reading so tend to spot other peoples’ typos (but usually miss my own). I was awarded a commendation a few years ago; at the award ceremony, the certificate was barely in my hand when I spotted a spelling mistake on it. Doh.

Alas, no. Being able to proofread is not generally seen as worthy of commendation, which is kind of ironic! I was awarded it for work I did on a homicide case – which apparently was “difficult and lenghty”.

Strangely enough, someone who shares your first name and the first two letters of your surname (although my middle initial is actually K, not C) 😉
Also a fan of Terry Pratchett & Iain (M) Banks. Somewhat saddened that my favourite authors keep dying before their time…

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